Psychologists should study motivation, not economists.
June 8th, 2009 | Published in Economics idea
Is motivation an economic question? It matters to productivity. But is there much that economists can do to increase or decrease motivation?
The only tool that economists have is pay incentives. While pay is important to people, it’s a blunt tool for motivating them.
Psychologists have a much broader palette to choose from. They are experts in the emotional realm. They consider important factors like relationships that economists ignore. If motivation is primarily an emotional problem, perhaps psychologists are the ones who should come up with ideas about how to motivate workers.
I don’t think it matters that psychology isn’t a particularly precise field. Psychologists can offer lots of suggestions for things to try. Some will be duds. Some will work well in some work situations and not others. Some will provide overall guidance, but be weak on specifics. Psychologists may not have perfect answers for how to motivate people. I do believe, however, that they are likely to use a wider range of tools.
